The Dallas Stars have had a busy first week of free agency, adding several new pieces to an up-and-coming roster that finished just short of the Stanley Cup Final.
NHL free agency began on July 1, and the Stars moved quickly to add forwards Craig Smith, Sam Steel, and Matt Duchene to the fold.
“I think we’ve improved the team,” reigning General Manager of the Year Jim Nill began as he addressed the media. “We’ve added a lot of speed, and I think we’ve added some scoring.”
One of Dallas’ goals this offseason was to increase its scoring while maintaining depth across all four lines.
“We’ve solidified that top nine, and I think we’ve improved our bottom [line] … at the same time,” Nill explained. “…We got a lot of options here. We’ve got guys that can move up and down now, and that gives a coach a lot of flexibility.”
“We wanted to get a little bit more scoring [and] a little bit more puck possession on the fourth line,” he continued. “It’s no secret that these guys that we’ve brought in have all scored, so we think we’ve improved our team that way.”
Smith has played 12 seasons in the NHL with Nashville, Boston, and Washington, scoring at least 20 goals five times. His best season in terms of points came in 2013-14 when he amassed 52, and he scored a career-high 25 goals in 2017-18. Although his production was down last year, Nill believes he can still help on a deep team.
“We talked to people who have coached him; talked to some of the people in Boston, and they spoke highly of him,” Nill said. “He’s a veteran. He’s scored. We’ve lived with him playing against him in Nashville. He’s scored against us; beat us many times.”
Steel is a former first-round pick who has yet to take off in the NHL. He began his career in Anaheim, produced career-highs in goals and points for Minnesota last season, and had two points in a first-round playoff series against Dallas.
“We saw him against Minnesota; played against him a lot,” Nill told the media. “He was a young guy that was a first-round pick [in] Anaheim and [he is] trying to find his way, and we think that he’s starting to show that … he’s getting better and better.”
Duchene is the most prolific signing the Stars have made so far. The 14-year veteran has 744 points (316 goals and 428 assists) in 978 NHL games, has multiple seasons with at least 30 goals scored, and is just two years removed from a career-best 86 points (43 goals, 43 assists).
Duchene had signed a seven-year contract with Nashville in 2019 but was bought out by the Predators at the start of free agency.
“Probably the craziest 48 hours or less of my life,” the forward claimed as he addressed the media on Thursday morning. “Everyone knows how rooted we were in Nashville and how that was a long-term plan for us, but it’s that old adage: Man plans; God laughs.”
While admitting that parting ways with Nashville has been challenging, Duchene is looking forward to the possibilities in Dallas.
“There’s not many places in the league that you have the options to play with a guy like [Tyler Seguin], play with a guy like Jamie Benn, play with a guy like Jason Robertson, Joe Pavelski, Hintz, Dadonov, and on, and on, and on,” Duchene said. “I’ve seen a lot of these guys obviously, and American Airlines Center was not a fun place to come into. I’m excited to be on the other side of it now.”
Of course, adding higher caliber players means some departures and tough decisions must be made. As free agency began, Dallas lost forwards Luke Glendening and Max Domi to other clubs and traded defenseman Colin Miller to the New Jersey Devils.
“To make a lot of this work, unfortunately, we had to trade Colin. That was tough, but it’s part of the business,” Nill admitted. “It created enough cap room to allow us to do this, and we brought Joel Hanley back to make sure we had those seven defense spots.”
Nill also expects forward Joel Kiviranta to sign elsewhere.
“They are all a big part of this team,” he later added. “…Sometimes you gotta make some changes and got a get a little bit better.”
While Nill expects the recent additions to complement the holdovers from last season, he will not necessarily be done making moves after the first wave of free agency.
“We’re always listening, but we’re pretty comfortable with where we’re at,” Nill concluded. “The good thing is I know we don’t have to rush into anything.”
